Mmmm... Yangcheng hairy crab

As if the almost psychotic level of hospitality he'd already shown us wasn't enough, my uncle produced a massive platter of these suckers at dinner. The Chinese mitten crab, a.k.a. the Shanghai hairy crab. Although they can be found all along eastern Asia, the best specimens are supposed to originate from Yangcheng Lake. Bourdain ate some of these crabs in his Shanghai episode, No Reservations Season Three. They're considered quite the delicacy - my own grandfather would sometimes fly to China for a weekend during the height of the season, just to eat them.

A close-up of my victim. A pretty cute little guy, about the size of my palm.

Now deconstructed:

It takes about twenty minutes and a lot of patience to really pick one of these guys clean. The meat is extremely fine-grained, with a subtle, delicate flavor. Good enough to eat completely unadulterated, or accented with a quick dip in some light Chinese rice wine vinegar.

While very yummy, I don't quite understand the whole to-do over these crabs. I think my west coast Dungeness (cheaper, meatier and extremely tasty all in all) could give them a run for their money.